White House Chef To Leave

WASHINGTON — Newly appointed White House chef Jon Hill is quitting and returning to the hotel business, the first lady's press secretary, Elaine Crispen, announced Friday.

''It was a personal decision,'' Crispen said of the resignation of Hill, 33, who replaced Henry Haller in September as chief of the White House kitchens.

There had been unconfirmed reports that Hill was not working out and that the food at state dinners did not measure up. Asked the first lady's opinion of Hill, Crispen said: ''I know of no complaint that she had.''

Crispen said assistant chef Hans Raffert will serve as executive chef until a replacement is found for Hill, who Crispen said wanted to go back into the hotel business.

Unlike other such announcements, the White House release disclosing Hill's departure did not include a statement from Nancy Reagan.

But Hill said, ''It has been a pleasure to serve the president and Mrs. Reagan, and I especially enjoyed preparing the meals associated with the December visit of General Secretary and Mrs. (Mikhail) Gorbachev.''

Hill was executive chef at the Cypress Creek Hotel in Fort Lauderdale and spent more than two years at the Arizona Biltmore as executive chef.